Samuel Morris, Missionary to America

Church History Timeline

You have heard of missionaries who went to
Africa to tell the people about Jesus. But did you know that in the late
1800s an African man came to our country and showed Americans the love
of Jesus?

His name was Samuel Morris, or Kaboo, as he was known to his tribe. His
story is as amazing today as it was to those who met the young Samuel
Morris more than 100 years ago. Here is his story based on his own account.

Pay or Sammy Suffers!
The year: 1872
The place: My native country of Liberia, in Africa

"You must pay if you want peace," threatened the enemy chief. "We will
pay," thundered my father, "We will pay." As the oldest son, I was taken
as a hostage until my father, also a tribal chief, could pay off the war
debts. Each month, my father brought gifts to the enemy chief, but they
were never enough. The chief beat me daily with a poisonous, thorny vine
he used as a whip. The poisonous thorns infected the wounds on my back,
making me sick with chills and a fever.

A Bright Light and Broken Knots
After many whippings, I was so weak, I could no longer stand. I was tied
to a wooden cross to be beaten. My captors planned to bury me alive if
my father didn't bring enough goods next time. I actually began to look
forward to death. At least I would be released me from this unbearable
pain. As I hung over the grave they had dug, I could feel myself slowly
dying. Then suddenly a bright light appeared over me! The ropes miraculously
fell off my hands and feet! I heard a voice call my name, and it told
me to run! All of a sudden, I felt strong. I ran as fast as I could into
the jungle and hid in a hollow tree until night came. I now had time to
think about what had happened. What caused the bright light? Who had spoken
to me? How did I become strong so quickly? I didn't have any answers,
but I knew I must run far away. If I returned to my father, the enemy
chief would kill my entire tribe.

As I stepped out of the hollow tree into the darkness, I was amazed--the
bright light that shone on me earlier was still there. It guided me through
the night.

After walking for many days, I came to a farm. A young worker greeted
me and took me to his boss. The boss gave me clothes to wear and a job.
I noticed there was something different about the young farm worker. I
often saw him kneeling on the floor. He told me he was praying to God,
his Father in heaven. He invited me to go to church with him. I went and
found the presence of God there. It all began to make sense to me. I now
know it was Jesus who saved me from my captors. Jesus was the light who
guided me through the jungle and to my new home!

As I began to learn more about Jesus, I asked him to be my Savior. After
I was baptized, an American missionary who was teaching me gave me a new
Christian name: Samuel Morris.

It Really Did Happen
I know my story about the bright light seems impossible, but many months
later I met a young boy who had been a slave of the enemy chief at the
time I was a hostage. He said, "We did not know what had happened to you.
We saw the bright light flash over you. We heard someone call your name,
and then you were gone." After I told him about the miracle, he became
a Christian, too.

Nothing Stops God Taking Me to America
I had so many questions. I was hungry to know more about God. I decided
to go to America to study and learn. I went to the African coast and found
a ship headed to America. The ship's captain refused to let me on board.
I asked God to change his heart, and he did! One of his sailors became
very sick. The captain let me take his job, assuming that I knew how to
sail, but I didn't. When he and the sailors drank too much, they treated
me very badly. One man even tried to kill me. But I showed them God's
love. Over the months at sea, many of them, including the captain, became
Christians. A ship, once so full of hatred and drunkenness, became a vessel
of love and unity in Christ.

America Warms to Sammy Morris
We arrived in New York City, and I spent many months with Stephen Merritt,
a man the missionaries said could teach me more. My desire to know God
better helped stir the hearts of the men at the homeless mission that
Stephen operated. Many of them became Christians. Stephen later urged
me to go to Taylor University, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Even though the
University was having hard times, the dean felt that God wanted me to
come. God used my desire to know him better to start a spiritual revival
in the town, after a local newspaper printed a story about an all-night
prayer service we had. It also included the story of my capture and conversion
to Christianity. The name Samuel Morris became known in almost every home
in Fort Wayne. So many donations came in to the "Samuel Faith Fund" that
the university began to grow. (The fund helped other needy students, too.)

PostScript
Samuel often became sick because of the cold Indiana climate that he was
not used to. He asked God to heal him, but Samuel's work on earth was
done. He died just five years after coming to America. But the story doesn't
end there. God used Samuel's simple faith and strong prayer life in a
mighty way. Many students took the Gospel that Samuel understood so well
back to Africa and even around the world. Taylor
University is still sending out missionaries today, thanks in part
to the faith of a young African man named Samuel Morris.

Make It Real! Questions to make
you dig a little deeper and think a little harder.

During Samuel's trip to America, why do you think the captain and
the sailors treated him so badly?

Are there ways that you can reach out to people from other countries
whom you meet in school or in your neighborhood?

What parts of Samuel's story do you think had the greatest impact
on the people he met in America?